Localization is the problem of determining the position and attitude of a vehicle with respect to some fixed coordinate system. Autonomous localization methods offer additional challenges in dealing with high degrees of sensor uncertainty, in interpretation of terrain and environment observations, and in the need to make robust autonomous decisions on the basis of ambiguous sensor data.
In an open pit mining environment the accurate localization of vehicles as they go about the pit is important for both controlling the process accurately and increasing safety. Accurately knowing the position and velocity of any vehicle as it goes about the mine is particularly important for supporting automation systems.
It is common practice in open pit mining that vehicles are localized using satellite positioning systems (GPS). Due to the geometry of an open pit mine, there are several locations where GPS fails because of an insufficient number of satellites being visible, multi-path effects of local terrain and periodic signal blockage due to foliage or places having restricted view of the sky. Accordingly, GPS localization alone may not provide all of the capabilities required in an application such as autonomous mining.
It will be understood that any reference herein to prior art is not to be taken as an admission as to the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art.